Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Breaking news, useful data or technical highlights or vehicles that are not meant to race. You can post commercial vehicle news or developments here.
Please post topics on racing variants in "other racing categories".
Locked
roon
412
Joined: 17 Dec 2016, 19:04

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

larger charger

User avatar
Andres125sx
166
Joined: 13 Aug 2013, 10:15
Location: Madrid, Spain

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

vidya31 wrote:
15 Mar 2019, 14:00
Will electric vehicles be really useful for environment ?
No, never. I can´t see winds needing a car to move around :mrgreen:

User avatar
Andres125sx
166
Joined: 13 Aug 2013, 10:15
Location: Madrid, Spain

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

subcritical71 wrote:
15 Mar 2019, 20:52
but I haven't seen conclusively any reports that show EV is better/worse for the environment than ICE.
Really?

I´ve seen several, stating only when 100% of electricity comes from a coal plants, then emissions are comparable to ICEs. Any other scenario, and EVs are less harmfull for environement, wich actually means in 90% of countries EVs are better than ICE, everywhere except India and countries wich only rely on carbon.

But, those reports usually are extremelly biased, and try to show a scenario where electric vehicles pollute similar to ICE. Their problem is they have to mention the comparison is done with coal plants, a detail many people miss, but makes a whole world of difference. Most countries produce below 50% electricity from coal, wich means in those countries EVs pollute less than a half what a ICE pollute. In Spain it´s only 14.5% of the total, wich means you need 7 EVs to pollute similar to a single ICE

Also, people should look at the bigger picture, renewable energies are being increased constantly, so electricity is greener each day, and at some point it will be 100% clean. ICE pollute today, pollute tomorrow and will pollute in next century, period, so IMHO it´s absolutely absurd comparing EVs and ICEs, even if EVs are way too expensive today, they´re not good for our wallets (yet), but they´re undoubtedly better for the environement

User avatar
henry
324
Joined: 23 Feb 2004, 20:49
Location: England

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

Andres125sx wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 09:06


Also, people should look at the bigger picture, renewable energies are being increased constantly, so electricity is greener each day, and at some point it will be 100% clean. ICE pollute today, pollute tomorrow and will pollute in next century, period, s....
This forms some of the reasoning that has me looking at the potential that my next vehicle will be an EV. I typically keep my cars for 8 or 9 years, so what I buy next will be subject to changes in energy mix and legislation over that sort of period. I can already see that some places I currently visit will ban my Euro 5 diesel in a couple of years. Those bans will exist whether I have seen credible reports or not. And there are likely to be more such bans, not less.
Fortune favours the prepared; she has no favourites and takes no sides.
Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty : Tacitus

Tommy Cookers
617
Joined: 17 Feb 2012, 16:55

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

Andres125sx wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 09:06
... renewable energies are being increased constantly, so electricity is greener each day, and at some point it will be 100% clean....
half of renewable electricity ie woodburning is fake - it produces relatively more global warming than coal burning does
and more urban particulate pollution than cars do
electricity will always be closer to 0% clean than 100% clean

the main source of CO2 pollution is of course fossil fuel burning for heating

Greg Locock
233
Joined: 30 Jun 2012, 00:48

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

There have been many studies done at both national and state level for whether EVs are less carbon intensive to run than IC cars. There is no one size fits all argument. In Australia, for example, a Tasmanian EV is fairly low in CO2 emissions. In Queensland, it is rather high.

If you think this is important, then you need to do your own research. If you don't think it's important then don't bother, buy an EV because you like the image, or buy an IC because of whatever.

Personally a GM Volt was probably quite a good answer for me, but the marketplace has correctly decided that lugging two complete powertrains around wasn't worth it.

User avatar
Andres125sx
166
Joined: 13 Aug 2013, 10:15
Location: Madrid, Spain

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

Tommy Cookers wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 11:43
the main source of CO2 pollution is of course fossil fuel burning for heating
How I this related to viability of EVs?
Tommy Cookers wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 11:43
Andres125sx wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 09:06
... renewable energies are being increased constantly, so electricity is greener each day, and at some point it will be 100% clean....
half of renewable electricity ie woodburning is fake - it produces relatively more global warming than coal burning does
and more urban particulate pollution than cars do
electricity will always be closer to 0% clean than 100% clean
Bioenergy is a 5%, so if you like to assume it will be there forever then electricity will be closer to 95% clean, but saying it will be closer to 0% sorry but is utter nosense...

Giblet
5
Joined: 19 Mar 2007, 01:47
Location: Canada

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

10 years ago I had zero friends with solar or electric cars.

I also knew nobody making their own fuel, or burning their own coal to produce power.

Now I have two friends with solar arrays who charge their own vehicles AND sell surplus power back to the municipality.
Before I do anything I ask myself “Would an idiot do that?” And if the answer is yes, I do not do that thing. - Dwight Schrute

User avatar
djos
113
Joined: 19 May 2006, 06:09
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

Giblet wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 12:13
10 years ago I had zero friends with solar or electric cars.

I also knew nobody making their own fuel, or burning their own coal to produce power.

Now I have two friends with solar arrays who charge their own vehicles AND sell surplus power back to the municipality.
I don't have an electric car yet, but I do have a nice 5.4kW solar array on my roof.
"In downforce we trust"

User avatar
Big Tea
99
Joined: 24 Dec 2017, 20:57

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

Not strictly on topic, but related, as you buy what you like. After trying an electric a couple of weeks back, I think that as soon as I can be sure the charging part will suit me, I think I would change irrespective of any other reason, except cost, within reason.

I think the big switch will be when it is convenient more than any other reason, including environmental
When arguing with a fool, be sure the other person is not doing the same thing.

User avatar
Andres125sx
166
Joined: 13 Aug 2013, 10:15
Location: Madrid, Spain

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

Big Tea wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 18:39
Not strictly on topic, but related, as you buy what you like. After trying an electric a couple of weeks back, I think that as soon as I can be sure the charging part will suit me, I think I would change irrespective of any other reason, except cost, within reason.

I think the big switch will be when it is convenient more than any other reason, including environmental
Agree, I love electrics, anything, from rc planes or drones to cars and bikes because of simplicity, lack of nosense noise (any vehicle make some noise, people tend to think it´s only the motor/engine, but that´s not true, for example I love the noise of the fast spinning prop on my electric rc planes, and they´re far from quiet), reliability wich is on a different league, and overal ease of use.

Also, range is far from a problem for me, as I rarely do any trip longer than 100km. Actually my bike (aprilia pegaso 650) has a poor range of 170km or even less, but that has never been a problem. A car with 200-300km range will be more than enough. The problem obviously is if you need 1 hour to charge. But what people don´t usually notice is you don´t need to fully charge your battery to continue the journey, with 15minutes of normal charging, or 5 minutes of fast charging, is more than enough to reach your destiny (in 95% of scenarios). For travelling this is a bigger problem obviously, but you can always rent a car for those sporadic travels and even rent a car wich suit your travel better (familiar, SUV...)

The only con wich is still stopping me from purchasing is price. Some manufacturers sell cars without battery, wich you rent to them. The prices they rent batteries depend on the distance/year you do, but they are pretty similar to what fuel cost for that distance!!! :wtf: #-o Add to that electicity costs to charge it... :-#

Not sure if lithium batteries pricing can be lowered to the point EVs are really viable economically, not even if they´re sold in same number as ICEs... :?: but I´m really eager to reach that point

Tommy Cookers
617
Joined: 17 Feb 2012, 16:55

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

there is 3 times as much carbon in the biosphere (in living and dead material) as in the atmosphere as CO2
changes in land use will increase release of biosphere carbon as atmospheric methane - 25 times as warming as CO2
the huge UK burning of American wetland wood pellets is doing this - because the trees aren't replaced like-for-like
according to the experts (on my TV as Drax is my local GW-capacity generator) making this worse than coal burning

bumped this as a cue ...
Last edited by Tommy Cookers on 06 Apr 2019, 12:46, edited 5 times in total.

Just_a_fan
591
Joined: 31 Jan 2010, 20:37

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

The answer is to use less. That's going to require social engineering rather than mechanical engineering, however.
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.

User avatar
Andres125sx
166
Joined: 13 Aug 2013, 10:15
Location: Madrid, Spain

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

Tommy Cookers wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 21:23
Andres125sx wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 11:59
Tommy Cookers wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 11:43
the main source of CO2 pollution is of course fossil fuel burning for heating
How I this related to viability of EVs?
Tommy Cookers wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 11:43


half of renewable electricity ie woodburning is fake - it produces relatively more global warming than coal burning does
and more urban particulate pollution than cars do
electricity will always be closer to 0% clean than 100% clean
Bioenergy is a 5%, so if you like to assume it will be there forever then electricity will be closer to 95% clean, but saying it will be closer to 0% sorry but is utter nosense...
Andres - how are your claims of EV environmental benefit (to which I was responding) on the topic of EV viability ?
I was responding to someone who talked about EV impact compared to ICEs, so I simply pointed electricity comes from very different sources so the average on most countries makes EV less polluting than ICEs. Then you jumped to house heating as that´s very polluting too, even more, agree, but that´s not the topic

Tommy Cookers wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 21:23
there is 3 times as much carbon in the biosphere (in living and dead material) as in the atmosphere as CO2
changes in land use will increase release of biosphere carbon as atmospheric methane - 25 times as warming as CO2
the huge UK burning of American wetland wood pellets is doing this - because the trees aren't replaced like-for-like
according to the experts (on my TV as Drax is my local GW-capacity generator) making this worse than coal burning

tell these people closer to 0% is utter nonsense
Yes it is. We´re talking about emissions, so we´re talking globally. You can´t take a single plant whatever it is, and use it as a reference. If so, I may take a solar or wind farm and say electricity is 100% clean, because it is, right?

It´s the average what counts, and on most countries except third world the percentage of electricity wich produces significant emissions, even if you include wood burning, is a small percentage of the total. It will depend on the country obviously, but we´re talking about maybe 20-50% range

Tommy Cookers
617
Joined: 17 Feb 2012, 16:55

Re: Will Electric Vehicles Be Viable? When?

Post

Andres125sx wrote:
18 Mar 2019, 23:01
....We´re talking about emissions, so we´re talking globally. You can´t take a single plant whatever it is, and use it as a reference. If so, I may take a solar or wind farm and say electricity is 100% clean, because it is, right?
It´s the average what counts, and on most countries except third world the percentage of electricity wich produces significant emissions, even if you include wood burning, is a small percentage of the total. It will depend on the country obviously, but we´re talking about maybe 20-50% range
no wind or solar farm is 100% clean because of the carbon cost of replacing the whole thing every 20 or 30 years
and the carbon cost of the plant that covers the intermittency of the solar or wind farm

any wood-burning beyond the 'low-hanging fruit' level will have a big carbon cost via increased methane emission
most energy crop expansion can't escape this situation (undeveloped land is where the biospheric carbon mostly is)

London etc would have better air quality keeping ICE cars and replacing the 'green' renewable-burners with proper heating

Locked